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Two soldiers killed in Anantnag encounter
Two army personnel were killed and two injured in an ongoing encounter in Anantnag district of Jammu & Kashmir on Saturday, the latest in a series of terror strikes in the Union territory, which is gearing up to host its first assembly elections since 2014.
Two army personnel were killed and two injured in an ongoing encounter in Anantnag district of Jammu & Kashmir on Saturday, the latest in a series of terror strikes in the Union territory, which is gearing up to host its first assembly elections since 2014.
Two civilians were also injured in the encounter, which was underway till the time of going to print.
At least 18 defence personnel have died in separate gunfights with terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir this year. Of these six have been killed in Kashmir and 12 in Jammu division.
Officers aware of the matter said that a gunfight broke out between security forces and terrorists in Ahlan Gagarmandu Kokernag of the south Kashmir district after a joint team of the army, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and J&K Police launched a search operation based on inputs about the presence of terrorists in the forests in the area.
“Based on specific intelligence input, a joint operation was launched by Indian Army, J&K Police & CRPF in general area Kokernag, Anantnag. Contact was established and firefight ensued. Two personnel have been injured and evacuated from the area,” the Srinagar-based Chinar Corps posted on X.
Officials later said that the two personnel were critical and two other security personnel were wounded in the operation. The Chinar Corps said that two civilians were also injured “due to indiscriminate, desperate and reckless firing by terrorists”. It later added “Terror antecedents of civilians being established”.
While the army is yet to confirm about death of the two soldiers, inspector general of police (IGP), Kashmir, Vidhi Kumar Birdi said two army personnel who were critically injured in the gunfight died in a hospital.
Officials aware of the matter said the group of terrorists who opened fire on forces in Anantnag were also likely behind the terror strike in the Doda region of Jammu.
On July 15, an Indian Army captain and three soldiers were gunned down by terrorists in the forests of Doda district, the third major encounter involving security forces and terrorists in the area in a month.
Officials added that the forces were moving ahead cautiously due to topography of the south Kashmir region.
“The area is above 10,000 feet in high altitude, has thick growth, large boulders, nullahs and re-entrants that poses a serious challenge to operations. Security forces are moving cautiously and are in the process of hunting down the terrorists. Operations will progress through the night,” a defence spokesperson said.
The encounter broke out a day after the Election Commission concluded its two-day visit to the UT to take stock of preparedness for the J&K assembly elections. During the visit, the EC team of chief election commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar and election commissioners Gyanesh Kumar and SS Sandhu held deliberations with political leaders and defence personnel, with a focus on the security situation in J&K.
“We are committed to conducting elections at the earliest in Jammu and Kashmir. We are confident that the people will respond robustly to disruptive forces and we will witness increased voter participation whenever elections are held,” CEC said in Jammu on Friday.
Last September, four security personnel, including Colonel Manpreet Singh, Major Ashish and Deputy SP Humayun Bhat were killed in the week-long engagement with terrorists in the same region. Two terrorists, including a senior commander of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), were also neutralised during that operation.
The surge in terror attacks has put J&K on alert and prompted the country’s political and defence brass to review the security situation in the UT.
